tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post3851642757960036351..comments2024-01-21T03:26:23.301-05:00Comments on Musings: The woods of my childhood: a rambling memory (or, why I love winter)sagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499891950639742366noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-61966911590223271402009-02-17T16:01:00.000-05:002009-02-17T16:01:00.000-05:00So if sprawl's the devil's doing, what's up with t...So if sprawl's the devil's doing, what's up with that building that you are involved in that is taken over that beautiful, once baren land that was probably home to a lot of animals? ;-)<BR/><BR/>Geez...you'll be gone 2 weeks?!? I don't know if Ed and I can go that long without getting snippy like we did in the old days. I kinda miss those old days. :-)Murfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07859630977737647681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-91257964205132522352009-02-16T15:46:00.000-05:002009-02-16T15:46:00.000-05:00North Carolina is quite a contrast from Michigan, ...North Carolina is quite a contrast from Michigan, eh? :o)Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16583773305351498372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-30089318523983398022009-02-15T22:11:00.000-05:002009-02-15T22:11:00.000-05:00Where in Central America?Why?For how long?You can'...Where in Central America?<BR/><BR/>Why?<BR/><BR/>For how long?<BR/><BR/>You can't put a LINE in like that and not give me details!!!! :)TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02487739742081226423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-84450706546443591822009-02-14T21:22:00.000-05:002009-02-14T21:22:00.000-05:00Sherman, 20 acres can seem like a lot of land to a...Sherman, 20 acres can seem like a lot of land to a small child. Mine was roughly a mile and quarter square<BR/><BR/>Lisa, thanks for your kind note and for helping your boys enjoy their woods. I was thinking today that I'm almost the age my grandad was when he died!<BR/><BR/>Diane, a more correction term would be Mexico. We're flying into Cancun, but then traveling about 4 hours into the Yucatan jungle<BR/><BR/>Kenju, copperheads don't tend to mind people and are more commonly seen than rattlers. My mom would call a neighbor if Dad wasn't home, then when my brother and I was about 14, she'd let us shoot the snake.<BR/><BR/>Beau, from your blog it looks like you have a great place to raise kids.<BR/><BR/>David, Sheba never hunted, but she was a great dog!<BR/><BR/>Bob-kat, I'm convinced sprawl is of the devil's doing.sagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17499891950639742366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-73695160666956054172009-02-14T17:00:00.000-05:002009-02-14T17:00:00.000-05:00What a shame those woods are gone.I love winter to...What a shame those woods are gone.<BR/><BR/>I love winter too but for totally different reasons as we don't have an awful lot of snakes in the UK. I especially like the snow!<BR/><BR/>Netchick sent me over to say hi and I was happy to come.Bobkathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11842625953465490864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-2251856919097010792009-02-14T16:46:00.000-05:002009-02-14T16:46:00.000-05:00Poor Sheba with the swollen nose, dogs are amazing...Poor Sheba with the swollen nose, dogs are amazing, aren't they?<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the visit, Netchick styleDavid Edwardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02690273066219097101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-66775941909292375212009-02-14T08:54:00.000-05:002009-02-14T08:54:00.000-05:00Neat thoughts about youth- especially the part abo...Neat thoughts about youth- especially the part about your grandad... family history can be so cool. Similar experiences for me though, and I loved to catch the non-poisonous snakes and bring them inside. Many of those critters will give off stinky musk from glands. But playing in creeks, catching frogs... the woods seemed enormous. And too- I came back one year to see corporate headquarters buildings in place of my adventurous woods and fields. We are where we are now so the young one can build up a host of memories just like that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-33252634745792450662009-02-14T00:35:00.000-05:002009-02-14T00:35:00.000-05:00Enjoyable reading, Sage. My mom used to kill coppe...Enjoyable reading, Sage. My mom used to kill copperheads with a hoe when I was 10-12, anytime my dad wasn't around to do it.kenjuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342414519714356343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-23489344890599596352009-02-13T14:51:00.000-05:002009-02-13T14:51:00.000-05:00Whoa - where in Central America? I've been to Cos...Whoa - where in Central America? I've been to Costa Rica and Belize, and loved both places!Dianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15552248284380193013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-49750737341625137892009-02-13T10:52:00.000-05:002009-02-13T10:52:00.000-05:00Wow. Great story. For all who read it I'm sure...Wow. Great story. For all who read it I'm sure, for me, probably because I relate to so much of it...<BR/><BR/>before I get sidetracked though, if you need a chaperon, traveling companion, personal assistant or whatever title would get me on that plane for your trip to Central America, call me, k?<BR/><BR/>but anyway, the memory of your granddaddy right before he passed is heartwarming. I'm glad you had that time with him.<BR/><BR/>Our house sits on the edge of the woods and my boys got to explore them although I'd allow it all year round... I'm with your mom on the snake thing, and my menfolk have used a garden hoe on a few that scared the bejeebies out of me and made me scream like a girl, but for some reason, we're fortunate in that we always have a black snake and maybe some garter snakes, nothing poisonous even though all around us there is a known copperhead population.<BR/><BR/>I used to spend a lot of time exploring the woods with the boys and we spent one summer building a fort that ended up looking more like a little home. My husband had a plumbing/heating business, so that gave us the tools & supplies necessary to make more than just a fort... as well, we spent 15 years remodeling a 200-yr-old farmhouse, so there were always leftover supplies from that.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the story. It allowed me to reminisce about the boys growing up here. I remembered how excited they'd be if I had to accomplish something around the house, I'd pack their lunches in lunchboxes, which for some reason, made it into a real adventure, and they'd go exploring with their homemade weapons, eat their lunch in the woods somewhere, and find their way home after... I loved going out back to listen for their voices so I could hear them calling to each other... "This way guys. I think I found...", "Hey, come look at this...". They made it sound like they were men on a trip through the amazon.<BR/><BR/>and before I forget, the part where your dad installs the bathroom at your mom's... priceless. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for the smiles... it's a tough week and only going to be a tougher weekend, so finding a good story to relate to and have those memories that make me smile was a nice diversion this morning. I think I read it 3 times.Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02285327851504685807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-26179317599858404812009-02-13T10:07:00.000-05:002009-02-13T10:07:00.000-05:00Thanks for the story and for bringing back some me...Thanks for the story and for bringing back some memories. Our "woods" was a twenty-acre patch owned by a family which ran a nursery. Good times.<BR/><BR/>Cheers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-72033938038825013242009-02-13T08:42:00.000-05:002009-02-13T08:42:00.000-05:00Ed, I agree, but then I can't imagine not having p...Ed, I agree, but then I can't imagine not having places to get away to<BR/><BR/>Mother Hen, beautiful memory of your childhood, thanks<BR/><BR/>Scarlet, tragedy strikes this morning just west of your former town. When I lived in Ellicottville, I remember flying into Buffalo and Rochester when the weater was less than ideal. I never took a photo of it--it wasn't much, just a nail and some wood carved to fit the hand.<BR/><BR/>Walking Guy, I had to chuckle with your comments about upright snakes! Keep driving, you eventually get beyond the concrete. A few years ago, I had a colleague from India spend 6 weeks here. When I drove him across the state on I-94 (he flew into Detroit), he asked if we were in a park and wanted to know where were the houses... That was west of Ann Arbor and before Battle Creek, where it's mostly forest and farms.sagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17499891950639742366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-69445381220969692582009-02-13T05:16:00.000-05:002009-02-13T05:16:00.000-05:00What a fetching and well told memoir. This goes fa...What a fetching and well told memoir. This goes far in explaining a proclivity for the oft harsh season.<BR/><BR/>Over here on the other side of the mitten I have always been urban, now I long for something different. so we're looking. Yesterday we drove and drove and drove and drove some more and the damn concrete never ended.<BR/><BR/>*sigh* I would trade my snakes that walk upright for yours that only bite.the walking manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10058913927297370740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-3892796253154394592009-02-12T18:54:00.000-05:002009-02-12T18:54:00.000-05:00I had similar woods in my backyard (in upstate NY)...I had similar woods in my backyard (in upstate NY), which are now homes. I never had your kind of adventures with snakes, but it was a fine place to play fetch with the dogs.<BR/><BR/>That ice rescue tool sounds like something my father would've appreciated on his ice fishing trips with the boys. Do you have a photo of it??Scarlethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17560614073319109150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-26206763309920642942009-02-12T16:20:00.000-05:002009-02-12T16:20:00.000-05:00This morning I woke up thinking about bicycle, spe...This morning I woke up thinking about bicycle, specifically the old simple bicycle (that didn't have any gear). The next scene came to mind was me riding the old bicycle flying past the large rubber plantations, something I did so frequently when I was a kid. The tropical sun beating down on me, the humid air was moist and thick, I zoomed in and out of the "shadow patches" created by the tree shades, hearing the little "pop pop" sounds as the tires ran and cracked open the rubber seeds on the ground, and I loving the cool breeze. I was a blessed kid, growing up in a city but had the opportunity to spend every weekend in the plantations where I could ride for hours and hours... <BR/><BR/>And now I'm reading this piece about your childhood. I read it once, twice, three times... soaking in your memory, while finding myself rethinking the rubber trees in my childhood. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for sharing Safe.The Real Mother Henhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13226727195920798035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9454941.post-21721579355538835642009-02-12T14:03:00.000-05:002009-02-12T14:03:00.000-05:00Every boy should have a patch of woods like that. ...Every boy should have a patch of woods like that. I did but mine didn't have poisonous snakes, swamps, cypress or Spanish moss. It did have hardwoods and a little creek running through it though.Edhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214319366049620074noreply@blogger.com